Otiose is an English word (pronounced ‘oh-shus’) which means “without practical purpose.” It was a beer developed by our brewers during a rare space in the brewing schedule simply to satisfy their own cravings for a sour brown ale fermented with guava. Rich with tropical notes and balanced by a mellow roast, this beer brings your mind directly to a decadent Hawaiian luau, complete with the roasted pig.

Reviews by russwbeck:

A: Clear, dark brown pour with about a finger of off white head. Active bubbles raise up through the liquid.

S: Big sour hit with a boozy undertone. The guava is very noticeable, which I hadn't expected. I very much enjoyed the sour Guava Grove from Cigar City, so I'm excited about how this smells.

T: The taste continues the aroma, but is bolstered by a much stronger brown ale characteristic than I expected. The roast at the very end of the taste is a strange, but interesting addition to an American Wild Ale. Aggressive acidity with a nice guava hint. The booze is still noted, but the melody of flavors hide it well.

MF: Medium body with a high amount of carbonation. The sweet and sour mix is deliciously drinkable. So sour it makes your mouth ater.

O: This was very nice. Another reason I'm glad I'm in the Reserve Society. Bruery is doing American Wild Ales right.

More User Reviews:

Thanks to Mike, Tim, and Ron for the split! Otiose pours a deep and murky mahogany color with some faint tints of ruby here and there. Lots of big, yeasty sediment chunks floating around everywhere, with a beige-gray head that plumes up quite quickly and then disassembles itself almost just as fast. Kind of ugly to look at, to be honest... but, what can you do?

The nose is largely a sour combination of vinegar, mild tropical fruit, cherry skins, and lacto yeast tartness banging on all cylinders. I said "tropical fruit", because the fruity essence is certainly more tropical than citric - but I wouldn't not be able to pull guava out of this explicitly. I know what guava smells like, and while Otiose's nose is largely tropical, I'm not specifically getting guava.

Similarly, the taste has a large fruit presence that is most certainly of the tropical persuasion, but doesn't capture the exact melody of the fruit in which it claims to have. Still, it smells quite nice. Other flavors walking the fruity line include more cherries (with a large tannic element) and a healthy bit of sour lemon flesh near the finish.

Vinegar is strong, but less strong on the palate, as it's balanced more evenly with the amped up fruit, as well as a large oak character that charges in without heed, even growing slightly vinous near the end. Sour and delicious, finishing with a dry oak-y and lemon-like acidity that's sharp, but not strong enough to burn your guts. Thin-medium bodied, carbonated well; soft, easy going mouth feel for the style.

Another good sour from the Bruery, although I don't know if I liked this one as much as Oude Tart. It was unique, with a nice tropical fruitiness, but I would have liked the "guava" to be more defined. Still highly drinkable, and not a touch of the 8.2% ABV was noticeable. Thanks again to the guys for splitting this one, glad I had a chance to try it.

750 ml bottle. Pours dark reddish amber with a creamy off white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is sweet and sugary acidic sourness with some fruit.

The flavor is sweet sugary malts with some fruity tartness. There's quite a bit of acidity and some wood and some mouth-puckering sourness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with smooth carbonation.

Dark, cloudy, somewhat amber and brown in color with a very thin light khaki colored head that leaves the glass messy with stick.

A somewhat tart, sour note is predominant, along with a hint of funk, and authentic fruit character, though if given this blind, I'm not sure I would pick out guava immediately.

The moderate level of sourness leads the way, along with juicy, authentic, ripe guava character. The guava flavor lingers on and on on the palate long after the swallow. Quite nice. I think they nailed exactly what they were going for on this one.

Medium bodied with low to moderate carbonation.

Nice sour with authentic guava flavor. I think they nailed their concept of this beer.

A - Dark walnut brown with a slight red hint. A light brown head sits on top.

S - Lactic acid and tart cherry that reminds me of a Flanders. There is a slight tropical fruit presence that comes thru with the guava as well as some oak near the back end

T - Tart up front with lactic acid, lemon, and light funk. There is cherry and tropical fruit that comes thru that gives it a twist from a normal Flanders. The back end was some light tartness, lingering funk and slight oak.

M - Tartness up front with lots of carbonation that gives it bite. As it goes on it becomes rather dry which lingers in the tongue as well as some funk flavors.

O - One of the better Breuey sours with a good amount of tartness and a unique twist to a typical Flanders with the guava added.

By way of Unwanted Whales 4 BIF. 750ml bottle into a Cantillon tulip. Shared with schen9303.

Big fluffy 1 finger light cream colored head with good retention. Beer is dark brown clay. Lacing is thick but sparse with good cling. Solid.

Subtle tartness. Moderately aromatic. Don't really get guava from this one though. Some oakiness and acetate in the back. Some vinegar too. Slightly above average.

Opens tart vinegar. Red fruit, some funk and woodiness at the middle. Guava comes through a touch to lighten this one. Brett at the end with a big, tart finish and filmy, spicy, vinegar aftertaste. Nice.

Light to medium bodied with ample carbonation. Prickly and slightly oily in the mouth and abrasive and lively going down. Messy finish with a lingering aftertaste. This one's playfully light. Hides the high ABV really well.

Along with Marron Acidifie and Oude Tart, Otiose is another successful sour from the Bruery. The choice to add guava in a dark sour beer does well to lighten the feel and overall flavor of the brew. Stands out as something very different from its brethren. Worth a try!

Taste: Sour citrus fruits and the guava fruit are upfront. The beer finishes with the Guava notes. The ISO:FT bottle I drank had more of a tropical fruit presence but this was tasty. The beer is balanced mid way between tart and sour.

Mouth-feel: Fairly light bodied with a fairly high level of carbonation. This beer had more carbonation than any of the Bruery sours I've had recently.

Overall: The guava works well in this beer. A good beer that I'm glad I picked up.

Served from bottle into a Bruery tulip (proper!). Poured a massively dark brown with a two finger light tan head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, sour, tart, tart cherry, wood, guava, and subtle vinegar. The flavor was of sweet malt, vinegar, tart, sour, wood, fruit, tart cherry, dark fruit, and subtle passion fruit. It had a light feel on the palate with high carbonation. Overall this was a good brew. The look on this one really reminded me of Consecration if I am honest. There was really a lot going on in this one to keep your nose and palate guessing what to expect next. The carbonation was a little high from what I am used to but still helped to make the brew a little more palatable as it felt like scrubbing bubbles on your tongue. It you like Consecration, you owe it to yourself to try this one.